The objective of the proposed research is the investigation of the relationships between family process and child development. To what extent, and in what manner, does quality of family interaction, as measured by process analyses of a structured interaction task, relate to an adolescent's psychological and social functioning. 150 families will be studied. They will be selected according to an adolescent family member's scores on psychological (Loevinger, CPI) and sociometric measures. The family interaction will be looked at in terms of: (1) patterns of communication, (2) approach to conflict, (3) degree of individuation, and (4) affective climate. Several operational measures of each of these concepts will be used. Other methodological considerations: Families will be homogeneous with respect to race and socioeconomic status. They will be two-parent, "natural" families with two or three children, one child a 16-17 year old girl, the identified adolescent. Diagnostically, these are "normal" families, unlabeled with respect to mental illness or delinquency. A stratified sample will be used, i.e. a disproportionately high number of families of adolescents with more extreme scores on the psychological and social measures, will be selected. In addition to looking at summary measures to behavior (e.g., what percent of the family's statements are angry), study will also be made of the process or patterns of interaction (e.g., what kinds of statements follow angry statements--reason, withdrawal, or anger). In the data analysis, structural equation models will be employed, along with other methods, to maximize the utilization of the information available in the data. Research on this problem is being carried out by the co-principal investigator as part of a two-year NIMH postdoctoral fellowship. Funds are being requested for a specific piece of this larger project, specifically, for the process analysis of family interaction.